1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable electronic device, and more particularly to a portable electronic device, which has a pair of housings assembled to face each other with one housing being slidable on the other housing to open/close a part of the other housing.
2. Discussion of the Background
In general, portable electronic devices, such as a mobile phone, an electronic scheduler, a palm PC, or a portable game device, allow a user to communicate with other users, store information, use multimedia contents, etc. The most typical device among such portable devices is a mobile phone. Due to a technique which achieves size-reduction and integration, as well as a typical communication function such as voice calls, other functions such as an electronic scheduling, playing games, storing and regenerating music/moving picture, and photographing a picture and a moving picture may be added to a mobile phone.
Such a portable electronic device can be classified as a bar-type device, a flip-type device, or a folder-type device according to the external appearance thereof. The bar-type device includes a single housing having a bar-shape. The flip-type terminal includes a flip or a cover rotatably coupled to a bar-type housing. The folder-type device includes a pair of folders that are rotatably coupled. A swing-type device, which includes a pair of housings that are rotatably coupled to each other and face each other, have been introduced, in an attempt to satisfy various user demands.
The folder-type device and the sliding-type device have input/output devices arranged at a pair of housings, respectively, and may provide for better portability and greater convenience because they can be carried in a state where the housings are folded on each other and can be used in a state where the housings are unfolded from each other. For these reasons, the folder-type device and the sliding-type device occupy much of the market of portable electronic devices such as mobile phones
The sliding-type device was developed after the folder-type device, but it has the advantages of a folder-type device, and also has convenience in opening and closing operations. Therefore, sliding type devices have overtaken folder-type devices in the market.
However, the sliding-type device has a disadvantage in that discomfort may be caused by noise due to friction generated between housings during a sliding operation, and its durability may be deteriorated due to abrasion. In order to resolve this problem, there has been an effort to decrease friction generated during a sliding operation by providing space between the housings. However, when clearance is generated between the housings, unnecessary movement between the housings may occur. As a result, a method of decreasing friction that can also restrict unnecessary movements of the housings of the sliding-type device, thereby preventing noise and abrasion, is needed.